AN IRONIC SIGN

AN IRONIC SIGN
by
Roberta C.M. DeCaprio

Living life with a walking disability hasn't been easy....and has put me in numerous strange and sometimes frustrating situations when traveling about this vast world. I've entered buildings that say they're assessable, have a ramp and all....but once inside there is no way for a wheelchair user to get to the second floor (no elevator, just stairs), and that's always where the rest rooms are located. I've also come upon some ironic signs.
The one I found the funniest (it is better to laugh at these things...keeps the spirit going) was a sign posted at a co-op market/cafe in Albany, NY. I was scheduled to read some of my poetry at an open mic and after parking the car a block away (no assessable parking), I approached the front of the building and sighed in frustration upon spotting the stairs. On the door a sign was posted....letters so small I could hardly read the words from where I was positioned. But with a squint here and there I was finally able to make it out, and it read: HANDICAPPED PATRONS RING BELL FOR ATTENDENT TO OPEN ACCESSABLE ENTRANCE AT THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING.
Another ironic sign. If I could make it up the stairs to ring the bell, I wouldn't need nyone to open a special entrance. To assume every physically challenged person is accompanied by an able bodied person was the propriator's drastic oversight.
After getting a passer-by to ring the bell for me, I did make it in time to read my poetry at the open mic....but I also added a little more to my alloted time.... a word of wisdom for the one who posted the sign.